Broken Promise

Well, okay, so...

I blew it.

It is more than a year after my last post. I have done some hiking, but I have been CRAP, clearly, at keeping up on the blog.

I don't mean to say I've done a LOT of hiking. I haven't. Not even close to nearly as much as I had promised myself or my reader(s) I'd do. I even lost the book for a while (gasp!).

But it's 2012 now, and this is supposed to be the Year of Change, and I've been working for the past few months on a Complete Health Overhaul, and I thought I might dredge up the ol' blog and give it another go.

I did indeed go to Debbs Park, the one I mentioned in the last post? I took my nephew, who is now 11. We had a great time. I even took pictures, planning on making a blog entry about it.

And then I had an MS-related relapse, and I had to stop everything. Then I went completely broke and spent all my time either trying to earn money or figuring out how to earn money. And then I had another relapse. The last relapse was a doozy. I was horribly depressed to the point of non-functioning, and I literally did nothing but try to figure out how to function on a most basic level (sleep, eat, bathroom) for a few months. Most of November, 2011? I don't remember it.I stopped working, I stopped...well...functioning like a normal human being.

When I finally could stay awake for a few hours at a time, and retain what I'd read five minutes ago, and drive myself to treatment, things started getting better. I started reading and watching YouTube videos like some sort of info-addict, and I started making some very serious confessions to myself and changes to my lifestyle. In short, they went a little like this:

1) I'm an overeater. A food addict. And while I've known that for a while, what I haven't done is take responsibility for it and actively try to change my habits.

2) I need to change my eating habits. After months of research, and I do mean months (perhaps years, when I think about it), I've decided to work towards eating 100% Raw Vegan. What the heck is that? It means eating nothing cooked, and no animal products (well, some raw folks do eat raw meat, but I'll pass...). Ever. It's pretty intense. But I've gotta say, as I work my way towards 100%, I'm starting to feel increasingly better, and my "full button," or satiety meter, whatever you want to call it, seems to have arrived, for the first time in my life. And I think I might be starting to look better. I'm down 16lbs so far, and it's been 3 weeks of weeding things out (like cooked grains, which occupied most of my kitchen). I won't be 100% for a while yet (you detox while you make the change, and my body can't handle the intensity of "cold turkey"), but what I notice so far is good incentive for continuing on.

3) I need to get out more. Depression and MS go hand-in-hand, for sure, but I've had problems with Depression symptoms as far back as I can remember...and that's far. (Like, 3 years old.) What's the number one naturally-occurring way to address Depression symptoms? Exercise. What's one of the hardest things for people with MS or Depression (or both) to get up and do? That's right: Exercise. Nevertheless, I need it. And I need the fresh air and nature sounds, too.

So, with those three things in mind, back I go, out to the hills, to get better.

I'm going to go back and see if I can un-earth the photos from the Debs Park hike, and that'll be the next entry. Then I'll write about water. Yep. Water. My new obsession, and another reason for the hiking stuff.

After that, hopefully I'll be able to write about Elysian Park, which I haven't yet hiked, but which  is Hike #3 in the book.

In addition to the hiking stuff, I'm going to be posting a bunch about the other life changes I'm making. Eating, meds, reading, etc. I may even start to put up links to other blogs and companies and such that have helped me along the way. Stay tuned! And thanks for reading.

Happy Friday.

-ST